ENCEPHALITIS CASES

Encephalitis Cases

Noah

My name is Kris, we live in Illinois. My 5 year old son Noah woke up Halloween morning October 31,2009 not feeling well. He fell asleep watching cartoons and slept most of the day. He had a fever and was very tired and didn't put up a fuss about not getting to go trick or treating with his brother and sister.

When I got home he began vomiting and it continued every time he sipped on something. I was giving Noah Tylenol and Motrin every 4 hours for the fever but it just wouldn't go down. I called the doctor on call and she said it was probably the swine flu and if his neck began to hurt to bring him in. (it didn't at that time). He continued to sleep the next day but only awoke to cry from his headache and to vomit. His fever reached 103.8 and I again called another doctor on call. She said it was the flu and to give a tsp. of fluid at a time so he wouldn't dehydrate and give sponge bath to bring down the temp.

By 10:30 that night he was dehydrated and lethargic so I took him to the ER. His heartrate was 158. I told them that his head, back and neck hurt but they blew it off as the flu, gave him an IV for dehydration and sent us on our way even though my son was very lethargic and vomited 3 more times there after they gave him Zofran 3 different times to stop the vomiting!

We slept a few hours and I called his pediatrician to have him re-checked because he wasn't acting like himself and seemed to be getting worse. They said that was typical of the flu and he didn't need to be seen, to wait it out. I was upset. By 8:00 pm I called another doctor on call because he was screaming from his headache! He hadn't vomited since the trip to the ER, all he did was sleep but he moaned in his sleep and was grinding his teeth now. He was getting agitated easily and didn't want to be touched and wanted the lights off. She said it sounds like the flu and to only bring him in if it continued/got worse.

Well he passed out sleeping shortly after the call so we decided to wait and call his pediatrician the next morning. We were up through the night and I was on the phone at 8:01. They didn't call back for 2 hours. We had been researching the internet all night and thought it sounded like meningitis. My husband and I both told the nurse that our son had all the symptoms of meningitis except the rash and she said no, it sounds like a sinus headache. To get some Sudafed and wait to see how that works! I was MAD! I ran to the store, gave him some Sudafed and gave it 45 minutes.

He was so miserable and in so much pain that we picked him up and took him to the walk in clinic and they sent us directly to the ER for tests. He was very dehydrated and lethargic and they started tests immediately. Glucose was normal, Cat scan looked good, Chest Xray looked good, blood work showed and infection. He was getting worse quickly and the doctor said he had to do a spinal tap without sedation because of his toxic state. I started crying. His heartrate was 45 and his blood pressure was very low. Soon my son started saying he couldn't see.The doctor said he wasn't waiting for the results and started antibiotics and anti-virals immediately along with a steroids.

They called a PICU doctor in to look at him when the results came back. He had meningitis with encephalitis. He spent a night in the picu and another week in pediatrics. He went into hypothermia body temp of 94-95 degrees. At first he couldn't walk to the bathroom and slept alot. He didn't talk much and stared into space. They did an EEG to check for seizures but thank God he didn't have any. It just showed that he is running "slow". Each day he got better and started eating a little and staying awake longer. They expect a full recovery but time will tell. He talks a little slow and is a little off balance but that may still go away. He can do most of the things he was doing before he got sick but he lost a lot of weight and is still in recovery. I just wanted to share our story because this is so scarry but with God we have been blessed. Come to find out, all the meds that were given to him were for things he didn't have. The picture is of him leaving the hospital. If you suspect something is wrong with your child trust you instinct. The final diagnosis is viral meningo encephalitis/viral meningitis with encephalitis.

Kris
Illinois, U.S.A.

Posted: November 16, 2009

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